I'm looking for anyone who has a loved one at Carswell now to chat with. I have a girlfriend there...her release date is Aug 2009. She has the option of earlier release to a halfway house...do you think the halfway house option is a good one? We are thinking it might be better for her to do her full time at Carswell and not deal with the halfway house thing. What are your thoughts?

I think halfway house is a good option as long as you don't have any worries about breaking the rules. I heard a lot of inmates say that the halfway house is a setup to fail but I never saw anyone come back from them. It all depends on how your girlfriend feels about maxing out or getting out early.

My wife is currently in the HWH here in Oklahoma after 15 months in Carswell. They all are different, and from what I hear,this one is one of the worst, with Dallas being one of the better ones. With that said, I woudl definately recommend that she go. The relaxation on visitation, passes and greater feedom are worth the increased hassle here.

Luckily she has some time to decide :-) She has 18 months remaining on 60 months. She has had no problems at Carswell...adjusted well...has a good job. I guess her main concern is going from a place she knows...where she knows the rules...and then going to a new place with new rules. Since we are not married...her concern (and mine) is how much we will be able to see each other...and under what rules and conditions. BTW...they had chicken quesadillas...sounds really tasty. :) I am forwarding the opinions I get here to her...and everyone is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

There is no doubt an adjustment period. It has taken a little bit of time for my wife to become accustomed to the greater freedom after the rigidity of Carswell. She had also done well at Carswell, had a good job and very good roomates. But now, I am certain that she would tell you that being able to come home, even if for just 48 hours, is worth the hassle.

As for visitation, you should have no problem. You willhave to pass approval again like Carswell, however since you passed there, you will likely pass the HWH. Here, immediate family members have an automatic 30 day "grace period" while there papers are processed. I am sure it is the same there. The key to remember is that the HWH is a transition back to living on the outside and as such freedom is greatly increased.

I was sentenced to 8 months in federal prison, the judge recommended FMC Carswell hopefully I am sent there since my family is close by would i have to serve the full 8 months in carswell or will i get to go to a hwh and get passes to go home the attorney's secretary told me i have to serve at least 85% of my time which is about 6 months i'm not sure she knows what she is talking about so i will contact the attorney on monday

my mother in law is in carswell and she took the half way house option..i'm not sure where they are going to relocate her..she's in texas but she's from missouri. Does anyone know if they will relocate her in missouri??

Cassye... I am fairly certain that unless your sentence is less than 12 mo and 1 day you will serve your entire time... I could be wrong and maybe someone else will come along with a better answer.

aashannon... I could be mistaken, but when my mom and I were talking about hwh.. which is off in the distant future she mentioned that your hwh has to be within 100 miles of your home.. someone else may know better.

Best of luck to both of you

A friend of mine has a loved one in Carswell. Does anyone know what area code and prefix one would use to have a cell phone number local to Carswell??

The area code for Carswell is 817

That is correct. The 817 wll make the Caswell call local. My wife came back in February and we had her old phone changed to an 817 number and drastically cut the phone charges for her. It took nothing more than a call to our carrier, TMobile, then a call when she left the halfway house to change it back to a 405.

I'm looking for anyone who has a loved one at Carswell now to chat with. I have a girlfriend there...her release date is Aug 2009. She has the option of earlier release to a halfway house...do you think the halfway house option is a good one? We are thinking it might be better for her to do her full time at Carswell and not deal with the halfway house thing. What are your thoughts?
I will b surrendering to carswell on June 11, can you tell me anything that I need to know?

tondhayes1965.. I sent you a private message. Is there anything in particular you are concerned about or have questions about? Im sure there is a million of them, whatever help you need I am glad to help! I wish you the best of luck and hurry home!!

I turn myself in to the marshalls on june 27th 2008. I was told that I would be going to carswell, can anybody tell me about it, I do have a medical condition.

Hello all,

My mom is suppose to self surrender on Dec 1 to FMC Carswell, I have so many questions and I am scared and cry alot thinking about it. She has very bad diabetes and high blood pressure, she takes 14 medications every day. I have read on here that Carswell is not as bad as Oz or other TV shows make it seem. Can anyone help me with questions I will have. I want to go with her to TX when she self surrender but I am not sure how long after she is there can she get visitors. I am her only child and we are very close, she is my best friend. I know it will be very hard but I just want to feel that she will be ok, she has 9 months so I don't think can get get off early.

Being scared and crying is natural. I cried for a week or more after I got to Carswell. Immediately upon arrival your mom will be processed and she will see a PA (Physican Assistant) and he will perscribe her meds except for any norcotics, she will see a doctor for that but not that day they will schedule her for another day to see the doctor. Any regular meds she will keep in her locker so make sure you put money on her books as soon as possible. You will need her inmate number to do that. Go to Western Union and do a Quick Collect (blue paper). Code City: FBOP. Code State: DC. My daughter sent me money the very next day. I'm telling you this because she will need a lock for her locker and other things. Her counsler will give her a complimentary phone call probably the next day. Tell her to ask her roomies about it and be sure to be by the phone she will be calling because she may only get one shot at this and it will only be for about 5 minutes. She will get PAC code soon after she gets there then sher will be able to make phone calls. I still keep in touch with some there and now you put your own phone numbers in the phone. I'm not sure how it works but she can ask when she gets there. You will not be able to visit until her counsler gets her visitation list done which will be less than 30 days (hopefully). She is not eligiable for early release, she will do her whole nine months, they probably will not release her to a halfway house due to her medical condition. It is prison but it's not extremely horrible. If she likes to crochet she can buy yarn on commissary and a set of crochet needles cost $20. You can only buy a set. She will probably go to my old unit which was the overflow for the medical units. If she goes to Unit 1 south tell her to look for a lady named Billie Rae, she's great at crochet and will tell her what she needs to know. Tell Billie Rae her Cajun friend sent her. If she goes to the 5th floor of the hospital tell her to look for Sherry and tell her again that her Cajun friend sent her. I don't know what I would have done without Sherry. She was my room mate until she moved to the hospital unit. Your mom will get a diabetic snack but try to keep money on her books so she can buy things at commissary. She has a spending limit of $290 a month. That does not include her phone, stamps, or over the counter meds. She shouldn't have to buy any meds on commissary. The water is very hard there and my skin dried out real bad, my face was pealing and the lotion would burn so I used A&D Ointment on my face. I can't believe I did that but it was all I had. Please let me know if you have any other questions and PM to let me know how she is doing. I was advised by my pre-trial services officer not to surrender myself to the marshalls and he was right. If at all possible surrender her to the prison. Take care and ask me anything. :)



My mom is suppose to self surrender on Dec 1 to FMC Carswell, I have so many questions and I am scared and cry alot thinking about it. She has very bad diabetes and high blood pressure, she takes 14 medications every day. I have read on here that Carswell is not as bad as Oz or other TV shows make it seem. Can anyone help me with questions I will have. I want to go with her to TX when she self surrender but I am not sure how long after she is there can she get visitors. I am her only child and we are very close, she is my best friend. I know it will be very hard but I just want to feel that she will be ok, she has 9 months so I don't think can get get off early.[/quote]

Thanks so much donethat, when did you get released? Honestly are there alot of mice and roaches there? Are the beds hard to sleep on? I know this may seem silly but I am just so scared, we were both arrested and spent the entire day in the lock up jail before we got to see the judge for arraignment. It wasn't that bad except that the food was old peanut butter sandwiches but we didn't eat. The toilet was right in the room with everyone and only a half door for privacy so everyone could see and smell when someone used the toilet. THere were alot of roaches and not enough sits for everyone so some people sat on the floor. I am wondering if real prison is like that.

Well there are roaches in the kitchen and rats I heard but never acutally seen. The beds are hard but you can eventually get a good mattress and it's not bad then. The bathroom has seperate stalls for each toilet, there about 9 of them. The showers all have stalls too. You can go to the bathroom anytime of the day or night except for count times. There are no doors on your rooms so you are free to come and go from your room. Actually I did see mice there, in the dorm. But some others caught them and threw them out. The food has changed since I left but I hear it's not extremely bad but you must remember that we talking about prison here. There is a salad bar but only 1 type of dressing and the type is changed out every few days. Only water served for lunch and dinner and milk and coffee for breakfast. Once in a while we got tea but you are limited on sugar.

Do you have to be escorted to the bathroom or ask for permission to go from the guards? Can you purchased juice or soda from commissary? I guess the food is like school cafeteria food. Can you lay in bed all day if you don't feel well? How big are the lockers, how many pants and shirts can you buy?

No, you don't need permission to go to the bathroom. You should be sure and go before count because then you have to ask the guards and sometimes they are grumpy. Yes, you can purchase 10 bottles orange and apple juice and you are allowed to buy 2-6 packs of soft drinks, all Coca-Cola products. I wish the food would have been like school food LOL. Some of the food wasn't bad but some was horrible. The menu use to rotate every 32 days but I think it roatates every 7 or 10 now. You can lay in bed all day if you want, but you must stand up for 4:00pm count. You only have to stand when they start counting and then you can sit or lay until it clears. The lockers are about 2X3 foot, I'm guessing here and that's real close if not right. It has double doors and the right side is open and the left side has shelves. You can only buy 2 t-shirts at a time but you can own as many as you want. There is a limit on sweat pants too but that's only to purchase at one time. But you can only wash clothes twice a week and we always saved one of the days for sheets and blankets.

Do you have to be escorted to the bathroom or ask for permission to go from the guards? Can you purchased juice or soda from commissary? I guess the food is like school cafeteria food. Can you lay in bed all day if you don't feel well? How big are the lockers, how many pants and shirts can you buy?

god bless everyone! I just hope and pray that everyone that is in prison , thier time goes by fast, so that you can be back home with your loved ones. As for me i pray to god for the time to hurry by,for i too,have my one and only daughter there in carswell.she has been at carswell since late may of "08 i still sit here and cry i miss her alot,she has 3 children,which i care for,and i"m on disability,i really need my daughter back home,if i could just turn back the hands of time...god bless you all...:(:wave:

god bless everyone! I just hope and pray that everyone that is in prison , thier time goes by fast, so that you can be back home with your loved ones. As for me i pray to god for the time to hurry by,for i too,have my one and only daughter there in carswell.she has been at carswell since late may of "08 i still sit here and cry i miss her alot,she has 3 children,which i care for,and i"m on disability,i really need my daughter back home,if i could just turn back the hands of time...god bless you all...:(:wave:

Time sort of stands still but it does pass along before you know it. When I got there everyone told me that my time would be gone before I knew it and I couldn't believe that but it really did. I miss some of my friends there but I don't miss the place. Just hang on to God's Word and your daughter will be home before you know it. God will Bless you with the strength you need to care for the little ones so be strong and stand on His Word. Take care and God Bless You!